Hello Dr. Darden.
Just wanted to get your input on a routine that I’ve been using, training in my garage with limited equipment. Once every 6 to 7 days, I do one set to failure of the following: Squats, DB Pullover, DB Lateral Raise, DB Bench Press (neutral grip), Barbell Row and One-Legged Calf Raise. Unfortunately, due to my current situation, I don’t get quite enough rest, so I tend to recover slowly. Any input that you would provide would be appreciated. Thanks.
At the end of your routine, I would add a barbell curl and a triceps extension with one dumbbell.
I did a very similar routine like this a couple of summers ago…adding the arm exercises as Dr. D suggested. I have a variety of equipment and created A and B routines alternating. I did well on it, but I also dialed back the intensity just a bit…to the point of stopping the exercise when I couldn’t control the movement as the muscle was fatigued and wobbled (instead of ‘cheating’ or using body sway to complete another rep or two). This preserved my recovery as I trained 2-3 days a week. I may revisit this again at some point in the future.
Thanks heavyhitter32. Maybe I’ll try the A/B approach and add a few more excercises, like stiff-legged deadlifts and military presses. I typically use a standard 2/4 rep cadence and just go to positive failure.
Thanks Dr. Darden. I’ll give it a try.
How’s this working out for you. Interested to see if you are still working out every 6 or 7 days, or ?
This was almost like my routine this past summer. In the same order but I did negative chins and dips instead of DB bench and BB row. No other arm work. For me it’s a variation of the BIG routine.
I worked out every 4-7 days. I also walked a few miles 2-3 times a week. I just turned 60. This is ideal for me.
Quote:
“Apart from a rather limited number of hardcore bodybuilders who are misguided enough to believe that they have a chance to compete against the outright genetic freaks that now dominate bodybuilding competition, just about anybody else in this country can produce nearly all of the potential benefits of proper exercise without spending much if anything in excess of about twenty dollars. You can build both a chinning bar and a pair of parallel dip bars for a total cost of only a few dollars, and those two exercises, chins and dips, if properly performed, will stimulate muscular growth in your upper body and arms that will eventually lead to muscular size and strength that is very close to your potential.”
Adding full squats, eventually leading up to one-legged full squats, and one-legged calf raises, will do much the same thing for your legs and hips. Using this very simple routine, when you get strong enough to perform about ten repetitions of one-armed chins with each arm, your arms will leave very little to be desired. Or, instead, you can do what many thousands of others are now doing and piss away thousands of dollars and years of largely wasted effort while producing far less results. The choice is yours. One of the best pair of arms that I ever saw on a man belonged to a guy that I knew about fifty years ago in New York, and he never performed any sort of exercise apart from chins and dips, and damned few of them."
- Arthur Jones in 1996
End quote
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I too gave up on separate arm workouts. Occasionally I will do a pre/post exhaust arm workout but it happens only occasionally. DeSimone has some excellent information on on arm/forearm training. From his writings, I surmise only gripping muscles and hammer curls are needed for forearms. Wrist curls and reverse wrist curls place inordinate shearing forces on the wrist. Machine curls also place shearing forces on the elbows, not to mention the infamous “skull crushers.” Parallel grip chins take care of the forearms, biceps and shoulders/lats. As Arthur Jones stated, chins and dips suffice for all but competing bb’s . An occasional arm workout certainly would be ok.
I’ve seen that quote before but I don’t know the actual source. Can you share the book or article info that the quote comes from?
Thank you
Tapatalk
Although this quote is all over the internet
It’s originally an article from Ironman magazine that AJ wrote. His column was called My First Half Century in the Iron game. It’s
article #68
You can find the whole article on a website called Arthur Jones Exercise